The Clairvoyance Conundrum
by If You Will
Summary: Dipper and Mabel discover a fortune-telling device in the Mystery Shack that could change their lives forever! Mysteries, adventure, and romance abounds as they attempt to unravel the secrets surrounding the machine by enlisting the help of an unlikely ally...
1. Chapter 1 - The Mystery Begins

_There she was._

 _A wave of hesitation flooded the boy's mind as she stood behind the cash register in all of her radiant glory. Each ray of light pouring in through the window behind her made the woman's auburn hair shine and shimmer. To Dipper, it almost looked as if it glowed, an angel walking amidst the downtrodden world around her. A lone bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. Even though she passed him over weeks ago after he confessed his feelings to her, he still could not shake her from his mind. His mind kept replaying the scene over and over again, looking for some extra meaning between the lines, but it was clear as day._

 _She wasn't interested in him as anything more than a friend. And it crushed him._

"Hey, kid, wake up!"

Dipper snapped out of his reverie, tightening his grip on the handle of his broom and abruptly standing up straight, turning to face the gruff voice that called his name.

"I can't have you lollygagging about when there's work to be done," Grunkle Stan barked, directing his thumb over his shoulder and to the hallway behind him. "Make yourself useful and start sweeping around the attractions, it's starting to get a bit dusty in there and I don't want to get sued again for making somebody's allergies act up, so c'mon, up and at 'em!"

Dipper could only respond with a muted sigh. Stan seemed to be unaware, of if he was, uncaring of the boy's plight. Not that the old man had anything else other than money on his mind, judging from the way he ran the business. Slinging his broom over his shoulder, he left the room without a fuss.

 _Maybe this was for the better, Dipper thought to himself. He could be out of the store and away from Wendy for a while. He wouldn't have to look at her or even think about her. He could work away his worries without dreaming about her freckles, that subtle smile that was nestled upon her lips, that carefree giggle she always made whenever he shared a joke…_

Dipper stopped in his tracks and wiped his brow. "So much for that plan," he muttered to himself. Broom in hand, he set to work on the floorboards, trying to build up a rhythm to soothe his thoughts as he scattered dust to and fro. Just as he finished one section of the room, the abrupt rattle and crash of something falling behind one of the exhibits caught him off guard, causing him to swivel about on his heels and clutch the broom for dear life.

The sound came from behind the stuffed "Lovebird" that Stan claimed to have wrestled into submission in Guatemala some forty-odd years ago. Out of every weird bauble and knickknack within the Mystery Shack, this was the thing that creeped Dipper out the most. Whoever gave it the name had one twisted sense of humor – it was a grotesque abomination, sporting four wings, the torso of an alligator, two human arms and six oversized chicken feet, topped off with the head of an alligator.

Just as Dipper began to wonder if this was all just an elaborate metaphor, another crash emanated from behind the figure. "Hey, is there someone back there?" Dipper called out to no response. Pressing the broom handle to his chest and stalking forward, he uneasily peered around the corner.

Only to be instantly jumped on by his twin sister. "DIPPER!" squealed Mabel as she threatened to squeeze the very life out of him.

"Ack, e-easy there, Mabel!" Dipper managed to blurt out, coughing while she pressed down on his body with that death grip she called a hug. " _You're choking me!"_

"Aww," she giggled, "but you always say that!" Mabel unhooked her arms and winked at her twin brother. "I see Grunkle's got you on broom duties today!"

He scratched the back of his head and looked down at Mabel's sweater. It's a picture of a sun wearing shades while saying "Stay cool!", complete with a sticker that says the same thing right next to it. "Yeah, but that's nothing new. I just got one question, though."

"What's that?"

"What exactly were you doing back there?"

Mabel's perma-smile widened an inch. "I bet you'd like to know, wouldn't you?"

"Are we going to have to go through this again?" Dipper sighed. "Can't you just answer me honestly instead of leading me around circles? Besides, it sounds like you broke something back there."

Mabel's smile grew another inch. "I _would_ tell you, but you didn't say the magic word!"

Dipper slapped his forehead, almost pushing the baseball cap off his head in the process. "Please."

"Okay, now I know for sure you're not Grunkle Stan! Come check out this cool thingy I found," urged Mabel as she waved Dipper behind the attraction.

As Dipper peered over his sister's shoulder, there was what looked to be a metallic box jammed between the wall and the base of the Lovebird. "What is it?" asked Dipper, doing his best to trying to make out what exactly the various exposed dials and levers on the device do.

"I think it's one of those kid toys that make a bunch of sounds when you mess around with it, but it's a bit too noisy for that!" She grinned. "That, and it's in desperate need of a Mabel makeover!"

The boy ignored her words as he squeezed himself past Mabel and kneeled down beside it. The box was coated with a thick layer of dust, save for the fingerprints left behind by his sister. "Maybe Stan left it back here and forgot about it?"

"C'mon, Dipper, you know that's a load of baloney! Grunkle Stan would totally have one of these out for the kids, especially if he made it coin-operated."

"That's… actually a good point, Mabel," responded Dipper. "But for all we know, this thing could be a control box to something. Let's hope it's not the, ugh, Lovebird. Last thing I need in my life is to see that thing come to life."

"Count me in, yeesh," Mabel chimed in, summoning her entire willpower to avoid staring the beast in the eye. "Do you think we can pull that thingamajig out from there?"

Dipper brushed away the thick dust, seeing the faint outline of a plaque embedded on the side of the box. "I wouldn't count on it. However," he added, blowing away the last of the fine dust resting upon it, "this seems to have been made by a company or something judging by the label here, but I can only make out one of the letters."

"What's it say?"

Dipper tried to wrest the box out from the cranny before answering Mabel with a shrug. "All I know is that it starts with an 'N'. And whatever it is, it's not going anywhere anytime soon."

Mabel's eyes lit up, her whole body springing up in place with energy. "I know just the trick! You stay right there!"

And before he could even reply, his twin sister was gone like a flash of lightning. Now it was just him and this… box thing. Upon closer inspection, there were three dials and two levers that could be fiddled about with, the rest of the device's various bells and whistles being stuck behind the base. Seeing as there was nobody else around, he gave the largest dial a small tweak to the right. The faint noise of unstable, crackling electricity greeted his ears, which was enough for him to decide against fiddling with it further. The thing could be a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up the whole shack! Whatever it was, it was another mystery that was waiting to be solved.

 _A mystery._

Dipper reached under his vest and procured his journal. It was a long shot, but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing until Mabel came back. The tattered, aged pages flew by in a blur, the inquisitive boy poring tirelessly over the text to find some nugget of information about this device, even if it was wishful thinking He never once saw the apparatus in the text, so why would he now?

Frustrated, he slammed the cover shut. But as luck would have it, a leaflet fluttered out from the loose binding of the journal and onto the floor in front of him. Picking it up, he unfolded the page and examined it closely.

"The… Prognosticator Apparatus?" Dipper mumbled to himself as his gaze was drawn to an illustration of the device below. No, it couldn't be. His eyes widened as he lowered the page, looked at the trapped device, and then back at the page again. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the very same machine– even the author of this journal knew of its existence. Jackpot!

"Hey, uh, Dipper, why are you pumping your arms in the air like that?"

Dipper felt the hairs on his neck stand up on his end, having been caught off-guard in yet another embarrassing moment of his life. "O-Oh, uh, hey Soos, what's, uh, heh, what's up?" he managed to stammer out before regaining his composure and tucking the leaflet and journal back under his vest.

"Beats me, dude! Your sister asked me to come down and move this thing over so you could get something that fell behind it?" Soos shrugged and took a long look at the Lovebird. "Is it me or is this thing more intimidating than usual?"

Dipper shrugged and stood up, dusting off his shorts. "I'll let you be the judge of that, seeing as how you've been working here way longer than we've been in school. Say, that reminds me, do you know where Mabel went?"

"She said something about bringing in emergency supplies and rations in order to fight a bad guy and save a prince, not necessarily in that order."

The boy's expression was nothing short of deadpan. "So, uh, do you think you could move this thing out an inch or two so I can get whatever's back there?"

Soos nodded and gave him the thumbs up. "Can do, dude! But if you don't mind me askin', what exactly is back there that makes you want to move this thing out of the way?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Truth be told, Dipper never got the chance to read over the notes of the device. The only thing he knew for sure was that it had a name and the author of the journal also knew about it. "It's some sort of thing with dials and levers that Mabel found a little while ago and we're trying to get it out of there."

"DID SOMEONE CALL FOR ADMIRAL MABEL?" boomed a shrill, high-pitched voice from the doorway. Dipper found himself taken aback at the sight of his sister dressed up in makeshift armor. Two pillows were strapped to her body by a rope, one for her front and back, complete with a metal bucket perched haphazardly upon her head.

Soos clapped and cheered raucously, while all Dipper could do was sigh quietly. "Mabel, is this even necess-ow!" A lemon cookie hitting him square across the nose was her response.

"First order of business is the liberation of the Doohickey Discobombobulatoritator from Baron von Lovebird!" commanded the girl, pointing over to the statue. "Soos!"

"Yes ma'am!" Soos replied with a salute.

"Your first order as the newly appointed Captain-of-Moving-and-Fixing-Stuffs is to move the evil Baron von Lovebird away from the wall!" Mabel punctuated this with a closed fist, accentuated by a fit of maniacal laughter.

"Right away sir, er, ma'am!" Soos resounded as he doubled over and held the statue by the metal base before leaning back and pulling with all the might he could muster. The weight of the metal pushing across the wood unleashed an unholy din and screeched across the floor, forcing Dipper to cover his ears.

"Mabel, what's with the-!" Dipper was once again cut off by a lemon cookie, this time hitting him in the chin, courtesy of his twin sister. He quietly picked up the two cookies by his feet and shoved them into his mouth, mumbling to himself while he waited for Soos to finish up.

Finished, he pear-shaped giant of a man doffed his hat and wiped his brow before flashing the twins a thumbs up. "Job's done, dudes. Now if you don't mind, I gotta take care of some biz for Stan."

"Excellent! You are hereby dismissed and temporarily relieved of your duties, Captain Soos!" Mabel affirmed. Without any further fanfare or applause, Soos fixed his hat back on and left the room. "As, for you, Swabbie Dipper, retrieve the booty posthaste!"

"Fine-ow!" he uttered before recoiling from yet another cookie smacking him square in the arm.

" _Get in character,_ " Mabel urged as she held aloft a cookie in her hand and a malicious smirk on her face.

Dipper sighed. "Aye-aye, ma'am." He scooted himself towards the wall and found the device perched upon its side. Picking it up, he now had a more complete view of the Progressicator Apparatus. Or was it the Proctologist Apparatus? There was a lot of small dials and levers on the obscured side of the device, along with what looks to be a small screen of sorts in the corner.

Mabel abruptly chimed in by jumping on Dipper's back and shouting a war cry of victory to the heavens above. "Wooooo, we got it! My-ster-ry Twins! My-ster-ry Twins!"

Dipper chuckled, turning to face Mabel as she planted her feet back onto the ground. "I think I may have found out what this thing is!"

Mabel's eyes lit up. "Really? I thought you didn't know!"

With a self-assured smile, he handed the machine over to Mabel and pulled out the page he tucked away under his vest. "While you were out, I found out that the author of the journal knew about this machine and wrote a page on it! But for some reason, it was torn off and tucked away within the journal's bindings instead of being with the rest of the pages."

The girl hummed to herself, quizzically looking over the object in her hands. "That's funny, does it say anything about what it does?"

"Can't say for sure," he answered with a shake of his head, "I didn't have a chance to read it over before Soos came in-"

 _KZZCZKH!_

Both of the twins winced from the sickly pop that gurgled forth from the machine. Mabel removed her hand from one of the dials. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Continue on, bro!"

Clearing his throat with a stern look, Dipper put on his reading voice and began to read aloud in earnest. "The Prognosticator Apparatus. This device is of unknown origin, with the only lead I've been able to find was that it was produced by a company by the name of… Huh, the author seemed to have scratched it out. Anyways, I found it during one of my excursions out in the wilderness of Gravity Falls. It was propped up against an abandoned mailbox in the woods, so I decided to take it home for further study since I've never seen anything like it-"

"Blah, blah, blah, get to the good stuff already!"

"Fine, fine, alright," he replied as his eyes scanned towards the next paragraph. "After much deliberation, I've come to the conclusion that this device is actually a rudimentary fortune-telling device that offers limited insight into the future. Over the course of testing it for three weeks, it has been impeccable and flawless in its predictions, but I cannot vouch for anything long-term as I have a limited amount of time before I… I… Well, it looks like he stopped writing here."

Mabel's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Wait… so this thing can read the future?!" squealed Mabel as she hugged it tight against her chest. "Oh my gosh, just think of all the things we would be able to know! Like what kind of jobs we would end up having, who we will fall in love with and marry, or maybe if we become rich and famous!"

Dipper paused for a moment, laughing nervously and attracting an odd look from his twin sister. "Well, easy there, Mabel, we don't even know how it works yet, but uh, it seems the he wrote a list of instructions on how to operate it." Dipper brought the page closer to his face as he continued. "Many of the dials are as listed below, and used in some conjunction, spell out words as described. The largest lever acts as the on-off switch for the device, with-"

 ** _KZZCHHBLRRKRKRAK!_**

A puff of black smoke blew out from the apparatus. "Hey, Dipper, I don't think this gizmo works anymore," Mabel stated sheepishly.

"Here, let me take a look at it," Dipper said as she handed the contraption back to him. "Normally I'd ask Soos to fix this, but this seems like it would be out of his league, you know? But I got another idea. If we're lucky, we might be able to find the company or person that made this thing and we can have them repair it for us," he asserted before rotating it around and inspected the nearly-illegible label. The first letter was still visible, but the rest seem to have been scratched off on purpose. "Mabel, do you happen to have a spare piece of paper and a pencil?"

And without missing a beat, Mabel reached into one of many sweater pockets and pulled out a small notepad and paper before handing it over. "Do I! Wait a minute, I thought you already have a pencil and some paper on you?"

Dipper set the device on the ground, plaque side up. "For one, I only have a pen on me, and second of all, I don't want to tear something out of my journal for a quick trace." Taking the pencil and a piece of paper in hand, he began to rub the graphite against the faded letters with alacrity.

The both of them looked on in growing anticipation, each letter slowly coming to life before their very eyes. But just as the last word became legible, they both gasped and blurted out in unison. It couldn't be!

" _Northwest Industries?!_ "


	2. Chapter 2 - Arrival

"You sure you kids are allowed up there?"

Dipper and Mabel stared at the car's ceiling for what felt like an eternity, the both of them trying to think up of another excuse on the fly. It was a spur of the moment decision between the both of them that led to them sitting in the backseat of Grunkle Stan's car. The sun was already well under the mountains and nightfall was slowly descending upon the town of Gravity Falls and here they were about to head to the Northwest Manor. In any other situation, they would have just waited it out for another day, but their curiosity got the better of them.

Dipper spoke first. "Yeah, we called Pacifica and everything, it's cool. They'll even let us stay the night and everything if we have to!" A single bead of sweat rolled down his cheek, betraying his cool.

"Even after that whole debacle with the entire town almost ransacking their mansion?" Grunkle Stan fired back, draping an arm over the headrest of his seat. "Look, I don't want to drive you two all the way up there and find out that you're not invited. Gas ain't cheap, kids, and it's not going to get any cheaper. Unless you're in Venezuela, but that's beside the point."

"Grunkle Stan, you have to believe us!" Mabel chimed in with a pleading look in her eyes. "We wouldn't lie to you now, would we?"

The old man frowned and examined their expressions before finally relenting with a grunt. "Fine, but don't expect me to pick you guys up if you get booted out. Got it?"

The twins nodded and smiled as wide (and enthusiastically) as they could. "Got it!"

Stan muttered under his breath as he turned the car's ignition on. The things he did for these kids, from driving them around town to saving Mabel's pet pig from a prehistoric monster by punching it repeatedly in the face. The car roared to life with a quick punch on the gas pedal and soon, they were off.

The twins let out a sigh of relief and slumped into their seats. Even so, they weren't out of the woods just yet. They haven't even notified Pacifica that they were coming in the first place, having flat out lied to Stan since she did not answer the phone when they called.

"Hey Dipper," Mabel leaned in, keeping her voice down to a whisper as Grunkle Stan fiddled about with the radio. "Are you sure you still remember how to get in?"

Dipper nodded assuredly and flashed a smile. "Yeah, there's a secret passageway at the side of the manor that Pacifica showed me before we left. That's where she usually brings her friends over when she's on curfew or grounded." Fidgeting a bit, he adjusted the journal and the apparatus under his vest, trying his best to get comfortable as he could. "There's an intercom there that's connected to her bedroom, just so she can let us in. She taught me to use whenever I wanted to show up, since she mentioned her calling privileges would probably get revoked after the party was over."

His twin sister was overawed by this revelation, the gears spinning out of control in her head. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" She leaned in, lowering her voice as best as she could. "You didn't tell me anything about this! Just what were you up to with Pacifica?"

Unsure of how to respond, Dipper raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "What do you mean?"

"You know!"

"Know what?"

"You know…"

"Mabel, you're not making any sense right now."

The girl huffed and folded her arms against her chest. "I'm asking you a question, just answer it instead of beating around the bush!"

"Mabel," Dipper replied with a half-hearted chuckle, "I think I'm getting where you're going with this, but there's nothing going on between me and Pacifica. We're just friends, okay? Besides, I don't like her _that_ much."

She wasn't buying it. Dipper was never good at hiding secrets, she knew this much. "C'mon, Dipper, the two of you were out for most of the night, you couldn't have just been wandering around the mansion the entire time as just friends," the girl emphasizing "friends" with an air quote.

"If you really wanted to know, all we did was watch a couple of cheesy movies in her room, okay?" Dipper spread his arms out in frustration, not understanding why his sister was giving him such a hard time all of a sudden. "We were too exhausted to keep partying and she didn't want to deal with her parents leering at her the entire time for letting the guests in, so that's why we weren't in the ballroom. There, happy?"

"Hey kids, what's with all the whispering back there?" Grunkle Stan butted in as they rounded a turn.

"Nothing, we're just talking… about, uh, Duck-Tective! We, uh, didn't want to accidentally, uh, spoil the show for you and that's why we're being really, really quiet about it!" Dipper stammered, clutching the sides of his seat.

Stan laughed, staring at the two through the rear view mirror. "Yeah, and I'm the Pope. We're almost there, so stay quiet and sit tight until we get there, I think I finally got a reception on this lousy thing!" With another fiddle of the dial, a generic brass orchestra piece warbled out from the aged speakers, drowning out any possible protest from the twins. "Hey, I remember listening to this little ditty when I was a kid! Dod-ddo-dah-doo-dah-doo, hey!"

Dipper and Mabel shared a look before sinking into their respective seats, leaving them alone to their own thoughts and their great uncle's humming. The girl wondered if she was actually assuming too much about her brother, especially since Wendy shot him down a few weeks back and that he was already on the mend. At the same time, Dipper had no clue why Mabel suddenly had the idea that he had a crush on Pacifica. The whole reason they're going over to Pacifica's is to find out if she might have any information about the apparatus they found, nothing more, nothing less.

As they began the ascent to the manor, Dipper sighed and looked out the passenger window. He hadn't heard anything about Pacifica since they left the party a week ago. Nobody has seen head or tail of her in town, not even when he bumped into her usual friends at the mall just a couple days ago. It made him anxious just thinking about it. She mentioned that she would be in deep trouble when the night was over, but just how much was she understating it?

With an uneasy jolt forward, the car came to a stop in front of the mansion's gates as Grunkle Stan turned to face them. "You two better stay out of trouble, because I don't want to receive a call in the middle of the night from the police and getting child services called on me." He tilted the rear view mirror down to his chest, fixing his bow tie. "I don't want to go through that again."

Mabel tilted her head to the side. "Again?"

"Pretend I didn't say anything. Have fun, kids!" Stan called out as they unbuckled their seatbelts and exited the vehicle. As they approached the front gates of the mansion, they could hear Grunkle Stan burning rubber on the asphalt before zooming recklessly back down the steep road. Night has already settled in, a full moon hanging in the clear, darkened skies above.

"Hey, Dipper."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Grunkle Stan has a legal driver's license?"

Dipper shuddered. "Let's not think about that right now, okay?" Waving her over, they went around the left side of the wall enclosing the Northwest Manor and into a patch of forest situated nearby on the plateau. Dipper pulled out a flashlight from his shorts pocket, casting a piercing light through the bramble ahead of them and revealing a hidden trapdoor beneath the coverings.

"Is this it?" inquired Mabel, the girl parting some of the vines out of the way.

He nodded and leaned down, lifting up the metal hatch with some difficulty. A fixed ladder lead directly into a dimly lit tunnel below, the walls of which being made of thick concrete and alabaster. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, he gestured Mabel inside and followed after her, making sure to shut the hatch behind him. For a secret passageway, it was built more like a bunker. Numerous lights were strung above in a row, all leading to a heavily-reinforced blast door that divided the tunnel in half.

"Wow," Mabel mouthed to herself as she followed her brother towards the door. Dipper kept his flashlight on as they reached the end of the tunnel before pointing it at what appeared to be a circuit box.

"The intercom is actually hidden inside here," Dipper pointed out before reaching in, flicking one of the breaker switches inside. The echo of muted static poured out from the box, indicating it was a success. "Pacifica, are you there? It's me, Dipper!" The twins waited in abject silence for a moment, waiting for a response to no avail. "Huh, I guess she's not in at the moment."

"Here, lemme try," interjected Mabel, roughly pushing her twin brother out of the way. "HEY PACIFICA! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, OPEN UP!" Again, there was no reply. Sighing, she turned around and addressed Dipper with her hands on her hips. "So much for that."

He stood resolute and shook his head. "No way I'm giving up now, she's probably out of her room doing something, like eating dinner. Plus, we can't just leave since Grunkle Stan ditched us for the night."

Mabel groaned and rummaged underneath her sweater. "And I forgot Mr. Skittles too, poo!"

Ignoring his sister, Dipper spoke into the hidden intercom once more. "Pacifica, it's me, Dipper. If you're there, please pick up."

A tense moment filled the room, both of the twins holding their breath as the intercom suddenly crackled in response. " _Dipper, is that you? What are you doing here?_ "

Exhaling a sigh of relief, he flashed a thumbs up to Mabel and answered. "We found this, uh, device and we don't know what it does, and we were hoping you might have some information about it! I know it's late and all, but can you let us in?"

" _Dipper, that's not the point!"_ Pacifica's voice sounded noticeably concerned. " _My parents will kill us if they saw you here! I'm not supposed to talk or see anybody right now, especially not at this hour!_ "

Mabel piped up and puffed her chest out, butting into the conversation. "Don't forget I'm here too!"

The twins heard a faint shriek coming from the intercom's hidden speaker. " _That makes it even worse! You guys need to leave now before my parents catch me talking to you!"_

"Uh, yeah, about that," Dipper added with a hesitant chuckle. "Grunkle Stan kinda left us here without a ride home, so…"

" _You have got to be kidding me._ "

"We're not! Pacifica, you have to let us in, we promise we'll be on our best behavior!" Mabel pleaded, almost shoving her face directly into the circuit box. "Please, we don't want to be stuck down here all night!"

A frustrated sigh was heard on the other end. " _Fine, I'll let you guys in, but we'll have to keep it on the down low. And Dipper?_ "

Dipper perked up. "Yeah?"

" _Pick a better time of the day to show up next time, doofus. Pacifica out."_ The intercom whined before it shut off, the breaker switch snapping back into its default position by itself.

"Oooh, sounds like someone is overstaying their welcome!" joked Mabel, tossing a light elbow into Dipper's stomach for added effect.

He didn't budge, trying his best to brush it off as nonchalantly as he could. "Hey, you were the one who insisted we went here tonight in the first place!" Even so, his cheeks were slightly flushed out of embarrassment. The boy didn't quite understand why, but when Pacifica called him out, it made his heart flutter just a smidgen. Not that he would dare tell his sister, who was currently eyeballing him like a hawk. "Cut it out!"

"What? I'm just looking at you."

Folding his arms across his chest, Dipper frowned. "And? I'm trying to think about stuff here!"

"And?" Mabel replied, poking a finger right into his still rosy cheek. "What kind of stuff?"

Before he could reply, the blast doors suddenly roared to life and parted sluggishly, catching the twins by surprise. On the other side of the doorway stood Pacifica, her hand planted upon a lever to her side, panting from exertion. From the way her hair disheveled, she must have ran down as quickly as she could to meet the two. The heiress was dressed in a pair of mauve colored silk pajamas and a pair of bunny slippers. She did not look amused in the slightest. "I can't believe this," she mumbled under her breath.

"Woo, Pacifica!" And in a flash, Mabel pounced upon her, almost causing the poor girl to lose her footing and crash into the wall.

Pacifica managed to roughly wrestle her off, sneering with contempt at Mabel while she caught her breath. Even if they were friends, it seemed like the last week has pushed her patience to the limit. Dipper could definitely see it from the way she balled up her fists and stood her ground, even if his sister was oblivious to it. Placing a hand on Mabel's shoulder, he offered to speak on Pacifica's behalf. "Mabel, let's save it for another time, she's probably had a long day."

His sister acquiesced with a drop of her shoulders. "Aw, fine."

Lowering her eyes, Pacifica's brief disdain subsided into shame. It was bad enough that she lost her aplomb like that, eeven after she promised to herself that she would change her ways. As she glanced to the side, her eyes made brief contact with Dipper's, causing her to freeze up in place for a moment and flooding her mind with the last memories they shared together. It felt like it was yesterday when they were huddled together in the storage room or chatting in the courtyard to each other, or just wandering the manor together during the dying hours of the party. Quickly averting her gaze, she turned around and pushed the lever back up. The thick, steel wall ground back into place, locking in place with a snap.

Dipper rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of something to say without making the situation even more awkward than it needed it to be. "So, uh, Pacifica!" he chimed, putting his best smile on. "I suppose I should be the one to apologize for coming here, but-"

Pacifica shook her head, putting on her best smile. "There's no need to apologize for anything, you guys had no idea in the first place. Besides," she continued with building enthusiasm, "I haven't seen anyone that wasn't my parents, the servants, or the butler since the party ended. So in a way, I'm thankful you guys showed up." She glanced down, reddening slightly at her current apparel. "Even if I'm in my PJs."

"Pshaw, that's what friends are for, silly! Breaking the rules, being cute and sassy, the whole nine yards!" boasted Mabel with her usual bravado and pomp. "But enough about that, we were also hoping that you'd join the mystery we're currently trying to solve!"

Pacifica hummed, rubbing her chin with the side of her hand. "Mystery? Is this about the thing you mentioned earlier, Dipper?"

He nodded. "Right, we found this device in the shack called the "Prognosticator Apparatus", which can apparently tell the future, but the only other lead we have on it is that it was once manufactured by your family." Reaching into his vest, he pulled out the machine and presented it to Pacifica. "We were hoping that you might have some information on how to fix it in one of your libraries, or anything else about it for that matter."

Turning it over, she examined the label's design and nodded. "I can tell just by the outline that this was made by Northwest Industries, seen it a million times before." Handing it back over to Dipper, she continued. "If I had to guess, it was a private commission and that this is the only one that exists, since I've never heard about this… thing before."

"You sure about that?" Dipper asked as he awkwardly shoved the device back underneath his vest.

"Positive!" Pacifica answered with a flick of her hair, smiling. "Trust me, my parents show me every single product they put out, new or old, from their shipping, manufacturing, lumber companies, you name it. Even if it's before my time, this looks like nothing they would put on the assembly lines." She shrugged. "Besides, if this piece of junk can read the future, would you want to make multiple copies of it? My family may have questionable ethics, but they're not stupid."

"Enough standing around!" Mabel protested, weaseling her way in between Dipper and Pacifica with outstretched arms. "Let's go inside already instead of standing around and chatting forever like one of Grunkle Stan's dumb ol' movies!"

Smiling with some hesitation, Pacifica clasped her hands together and nodded. "Okay, but I'll have to sneak back into my bedroom and set up a decoy, or else my parents will know something's up. Dipper, you know where the study on the first floor is, right? Where the ghost used to haunt?"

"Right, what about it?"

Mabel whispered in Dipper's ear. "What ghost?"

"Well," Pacifica placed a hand on her hip, putting on some flair as she addressed Dipper. "We'll meet up there, as there might be a book or two there with a bunch of schematics that my ancestors have worked on. Or more than likely, stolen, if my family history is anything to go by."

"Sounds like a plan, we'll see you there!" Dipper replied with a bit of enthusiasm in return. "Just take a right at the end of this passageway to enter the foyer, right?"

Mabel tugged on Dipper's sleeve, trying to get his attention. "What ghost?"

"Yep," Pacifica nodded with a coy wink. "See you there soon, Dips."

 _He felt his heart skip a beat, trying to keep his best to keep his smile from wavering. There was that strange feeling again, that rush of blood into his head that made his cheeks flush. Why was this happening now, of all times? He never once considered treating her anything beyond a friend, and not too long ago, he despised her. And yet, here he was, watching her leave the hallway with rapt attention. Maybe he was just on a rebound, or maybe-_

" **DIPPER!"**

He flinched and covered his ears, almost glowering at Mabel. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"About time you listened to me," his sister huffed, crossing her arms with indignity. "Are you just going to stand there and wait for the world to end or are we going to get a move on, sheesh!"

Dipper gazed at his shoes for a moment before looking back up at Mabel. "Yeah, I guess I got too caught up in my own thoughts, you know how that is." He answered as truthfully as he could without getting into specifics. He was never all that great at expressing his feelings to other people, not even to his own sister.

Leaning in close to Dipper's face, Mabel leered at him. "And just what you were thinking about, hm? You did the same exact thing not too long ago!" The smile on her lips was nothing short of devious. "Is it about… dun dun dun, Pacifica?!"

He could feel himself already sweating from anxiety. Aiming to cover his tracks, he cleared his mind and addressed Mabel as succinctly as he could. "No, Mabel, it was not about Pacifica. I was just, uh, thinking about what happened with the whole ghost thing at the party!" Dipper wanted to slap himself for how lame that came out.

Mabel seemed to have bought it, judging from the way her mood shifted from mischievous to mock indignation. "Hey, that's what I was trying to ask you about, jerk!" She shoved Dipper in jest, unable to stifle her own giddiness. "You should've just said so in the first place."

Relief flooded across Dipper's entire body, having just barely saved his hide from his own carelessness. Tossing an arm around Mabel's shoulder, he began guiding her to the end of the tunnel with renewed conviction in both his step and voice. "So, let's start from the beginning. You know that favor Pacifica asked me for that got me those invitations for the party? Well, it all started when…"

As his voice trailed off into the distance and silence filled the tunnel once more, a baleful wind began to howl outside the manor, scattering leaves and branches every which way, a sign of the turmoil to come. Neither the twins nor Pacifica knew how much this night would forever change the rest of their lives.


	3. Chapter 3 - Crossroads

A roaring fireplace set the mood of the otherwise darkened study, casting long, crawling shadows every which way. Each crackle of flame sent a renewed vigor into the room, giving the drafty room a much-needed heat in spite of the warm summer nights.

The twins passed through the grand entryway, sticking close to one another as they muffled their footsteps into the room.

"Psst, Dipper," whispered Mabel, tugging on her brother's sleeve.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think it's kind of odd how empty this whole place is?" She came to a stop and folded her arms, digging her feet into the rug beneath them. "I was expecting we would have to sneak around a bit more and do some reconnaissance, like ninjas!" Without any restraint, she pulled out her grappling gun and began mock shooting invisible targets around Dipper.

Dipper sighed and nodded in agreement. "Enthusiasm aside, that really is weird, even for this place. Didn't it feel like, you know," his voice trailed off, examining the library with a squint. "That someone was watching us?"

His concerns were promptly addressed by a swift pat on the back and a glittering grin from his sister. "Don't be silly, Dipper! It was probably just your imagination, even if this bear is looking straight at us. 'Sides, you did say that Pacifica got rid of the ghost, didn't you?"

He nodded and surveyed the room while Mabel was busy poking about the taxidermied body of the grizzly bear by the entrance. "Huh, I guess you're right. Then again, I'm not used to walking around a place with so much history."

 _His eyes loomed up to the vast collection of tomes, books, and endless publications lining the shelves. How odd, he thought. None of them were damaged from when the ghost attacked. When the curse was lifted, the damage must have went with it as well. That, or Pacifica's parents have way too much money on their hands for repairs. He couldn't help but be envious of just how well off she was compared to them. Not only in wealth, but security and beauty too. Wait, beauty? Ugh, what was he thinking?_

The pitter-patter of approaching footsteps abruptly broke his concentration, instincts kicking in as Dipper snatched Mabel by the arm and dove underneath the table.

"Hey, what's the big deal- _mmphf_!" Mabel was quickly stifled by Dipper's hand as he pointed towards the entryway, a shadow growing across the room. The footsteps came to a stop by the doorway, a familiar voice calling out into the study.

"Dipper? Mabel? Where are you guys?" A pair of brown uggs came into view from where Dipper and Mabel were crouch.

The twins breathed a sigh of relief as they popped up from beneath the table, dusting themselves off with awkward smiles. "Uh, sorry about that Pacifica," Dipper spoke up with a slight hint of bashfulness. "Can't hurt to be too careful!"

Pacifica rolled her eyes with a giggle, having slipped into her usual daytime outfit. "Whatever, my parents are asleep right now, so there's nothing to fret about." Flipping her hair to the side, she surveyed the study ahead of them. "Technically, I'm not supposed to go through these books, but…"

Dipper shared a smile with her, already taking a nearby book off the shelf and holding it aloft. "And? You weren't supposed to ruin that silver rug either!"

As they shared a mutual giggle, Mabel stood at the side in awed silence, each piece falling into place in her mind. They might deny it, but there's no denying the prowess of Mabel's matchmaking skills! She felt like she was about to explode, almost bursting at the seams and resisting the urge to force the two crushes to rub their cheeks together. The starry-eyed shock did not go unnoticed by her brother.

"Uh, Mabel, you okay?" he asked, snapping his fingers to get her attention. "Mabel?"

Mabel came to, sputtering out rapidly of her reverie. "Mabel's in, I repeat, Mabel's in and not out!"

Shrugging, Pacifica took the book and inspected the binding. "First off, we need to actually look at the titles of what we're digging up before wasting our time." She presented the emblazoned, golden lettering to Dipper. "I doubt we're going to find out about our apparatus in 'Edible Mushrooms and You, The One Percenter Edition,' Dipper."

"I was just using that as an example, but don't worry, I got a plan hashed out." Taking the book and placing it back in the space on the shelf, he continued with more confidence and enthusiasm than before. "If we gather up all the books that might clue us in on our apparatus at the center of the room, it'll make our job way easier! That way, we can avoid pulling out the same books or accidentally skipping over a possible lead."

His sister babbled in response, still awestruck by the revelation from earlier. "Yes sir, Commander Dipper! Sail this ship onwards!" Flailing her arms about wildly, Mabel bounced about towards the opposite wall as Pacifica drew close and whispered into Dipper's ear.

"Is that… normal for her?"

He nodded with some resignation. "Usually when she gets like this, it's because she's got herself worked up about some idea she's infatuated with. Trust me, you're better off not knowing what goes on in that head of hers."

"I'll take your word for it," she replied by rolling up her mauve-colored sleeves, fixing them on her elbows before browsing through the catalogue of books before her.

Glancing over at his sister, he fixed his attention back on Pacifica, rubbing the back of his head in humility. "Uh, by the way, I'd just like to say thanks again for helping us out. Even though you totally don't have to, seeing as this is your place and all."

"Please," Pacifica urged with a coy smile, her expression hidden away from him while she sorted through the books before her. "I've been wanting to hang out with you guys since last week, so in a way, this all works out. Even if it's past bedtime."

There was a mutual comfort building between the two, a knowing silence that only intimate friends would share. Neither of them quite knew what was going through the other's mind. Even as Dipper set to work, Pacifica found her thoughts wandering and wondering about the boy at her side.

 _He was cute. Her age, too. Doesn't have riches or baggage to hold him down. Self-starter, independent, active. Anything he would do, be it taking out a book or even flipping through pages, she found herself mimicking the same movements. It made her feel disgusted to harbor these feelings. It was not the stiff upper lip or harsh callousness that her heritage called upon, far from it. He was the antithesis of everything she was, a negative to her existence. But the magnetism was still there, she could feel it pulse in her heart. Each time he smiled, she had to look away. Just what was it about this boy to make her feel this torment?_

 _Was this what it was like to fall in love?_

 _Dipper sighed, putting another book back into the shelf. Focus was not in his mindset, not with Pacifica casting looks at him like that. He was not comfortable with the idea that he was developing a crush on someone who he considered an enemy not too long ago. One part of his mind wanted to stay as friends while the other pushed him to value her as being something more. He tried to rationalize countless reasons to quell the pangs of his heart to no success_ _._ _She was out of his league, she would be too high-maintenance, her family and his family would not even tolerate the thought, the list could go on. And yet, something still told him it could work. The signs were there, but his confidence was not._

 _All the more reason to get this apparatus fixed, he supposed._

* * *

Elsewhere in the mansion, two figures were fixated on a small screen in a video room, each wall filled with endless video feeds. The monitor of interest showed the Pines twins and Pacifica Northwest combing through the personal library and stacking up books in the center of the room.

"Should we do something about these hooligans, dear?"

"In a moment, I want to know what they are up to."

A scoff rang out in the chamber. "You honestly do not suppose these commoners would need a reason? The rabble certainly did not when they raided our home, Preston."

"Why else would they sneak into our home without our consent?" A fist slammed the desk in front of the hunched figure. "Think, woman!"

"That may be, but they are enabling Pacifica! I do not want my daughter to lose twelve years of etiquette and training to some riff-raff, all so you can slough off responsibility!"

The father raised his hand and stood up from his seat, shooting a disdainful glare at his wife. "Do not pin this on me, not after last week's little… incident." He eyed the desk beneath wall of monitors, shaking his head. "They are clearly after something and it will be difficult to get an answer out of her, seeing as she no longer listens to the bell. I will not tolerate rule breaking in this household, much less our daughter doing so."

His wife sauntered up to him, snaking an arm across his shoulders. "What do you suggest we do then, Preston?"

The man tucked in his tie and tightened the noose. "We will confront them ourselves, Priscilla. Come, let us make haste."

* * *

Mabel groaned as she chucked another book onto the center rug of the room. Each trip she made to the wall, a growing uneasiness bubbled up in her stomach. She could not shake the feeling that something or someone was watching them ever since her brother mentioned it. It sent a shiver down her spine that quenched the fire that was underneath her just moments ago.

 _Maybe she was just overcomplicating things. She had a bad habit of trying to match up everyone and everything, but the compulsion was too strong to ignore. Summer romance was something she cherished in all the stories she read and all the shows she watched. And yet, she could not find much success on her own terms. Maybe that was why she wanted to play the role of the matchmaker, all so she wouldn't have to try and find something on her own terms._

 _Or maybe it was envy._

Pacifica and Dipper have since split up, with all three of them working opposite shelves from one another. Her brother strutted over and deposited the last tome from his section of the room. "Hey, Dipper," she called out to him, returning with one more book under her arm.

"Hey Mabel, what's up?" He scrubbed his hands on his pants, wiping off a small amount of dust.

Mabel looked at the collection they have assembled thus far. Thirty books total, give or take, plus some rolled up scrolls and blueprints to round out the collection. Her eyes wandered back to Dipper's face with a hint of concern on her face. "Do you mind if I asked you something?"

He shrugged, unsure of what his sister wanted from him. It always made him uneasy to not see her being her usual bubbly self. "Not at all," he answered blankly, shoving his hands down into his vest's pockets.

With a strained, forced laugh, she began in earnest. "Well, it's about Pacifica. I was-"

"You guys done already?" interjected Pacifica as she walked over with a stack of three final books, laying them down gracefully at her feet. "What's with that look?"

Mabel stammered and tugged on the neckline of her sweater, much to Dipper's chagrin. "Nothing, nothing! We were just going to talk about how much time this was going to take and that we really, really need to get some snacks for this!"

Dipper attempted to speak up, only to be silenced by Mabel's hand covering his mouth. "Yes, snacks! Do you think you could grab some snacks for us, Pacifica?" She murmured into Dipper's ear, letting go of him. "Help vouch for me, Dipper!"

He was even more perplexed now, but if Mabel was this insistent, he might as well go along with whatever scheme she had in mind. "Yeah, I'm getting a little hungry myself, but really, it's up to you, Pacifica."

"Sure, I guess?" The girl nodded with a slight wince, not understanding what this development was all about. "I'll go grab one of the snack trays from the kitchen, it'll only be a bit." Taking her leave, she flashed a quick glance over her shoulders at the Pines. Dipper looked just as puzzled as she did, with only Mabel playing it off as if nothing was afoot.

 _How strange. Here she was, selflessly helping her friends without hesitation, even if the request seemed somewhat bogus. It wasn't because she was forced to do so, but only because she wanted to do so. It was such an alien concept to her, just like sharing was, and yet, she accepted it with no issue. Was this what true friendship was about? Not about status, not about power, but about camaraderie. It made her smile, even blush._

With a stride and a pep in her step, she picked herself up into a skip, exiting the study and into the foyer of her home.

" _ **Pacifica, what do you think you're doing?!**_ "

The sharp voice brought her to an instant standstill, her heart almost leaping out of her chest. Her parents stormed towards her, her father shaking a finger at her with her mother following in his tracks. " _ **What is the meaning of this? You were strictly told not to make contact with the outsiders until we saw fit and you broke your promise yet again!**_ "

She felt her knees fall out from underneath her, collapsing onto the floor as she tried to back away from her parents. The sudden whiplash in moods left her in shock, the poor girl attempting to sputter out an excuse. "B-But…"

" _ **No buts! You are a Northwest, start acting like one!**_ " Preston yanked her up by the front of her shirt, chastising her with utter contempt. " _ **We do not wish to disown you, but we will be forced to if you continue to test our patience!**_ "

Priscilla emerged from her husband's side, facing her daughter in disgusted silence before addressing Preston. "Do you think a bit of physical reinforcement is in order, dear?"

He lowered his voice, shaking Pacifica in place in smoldering rage. "Do you want this, Pacifica? Answer me!"

Words escaped the young girl, completely at the mercy of her parents. They were completely different people, they would never threaten to lay a finger on her or do anything more than passive-aggressively talk her down. Tears welled up beneath her eyes and her mind went hazy, an endless torrent of half-finished thoughts clamoring in terror.

" _ **Answer me!**_ "

The faint rush of footsteps coming from the study made her heart sink. She couldn't let her friends see her like this, being completely at the mercy of her parents. As her father's hand came swinging down towards her face, it felt like the whole world was spinning about her and before she knew it, everything went black.

* * *

A sharp ringing in her ears brought her to, Pacifica blearily opening her eyes as she saw her father's enraged face hanging in front of her, forcing her to instinctively close her eyes to brace for an impact.

It never came.

Carefully, she opened one eye. Her father was still there, his expression having not budged with her mother at his side, the woman's self-assured smugness being ever present.

 _Was she stuck in time?_

Struggling for a moment, Pacifica managed to free herself from her father's grip, feeling her face to make sure she was awake. She was awake as awake could be. But just where was she? Turning about, everything in her home was in place with only one thing missing.

Color.

Everything around her was sapped of color, from the hardwood walls to the marble tiles below, everything was replaced by a hue of black, white, or grey. Even her parents were monochrome, drained of any vibrancy or life. She peeked down at herself, noting that she still had her true colors. Wiping away the mascara stains left behind by her tears, animosity mounted up inside her while she glared at her parents. It was not hate.

 _It was something much stronger than hate_ _._

Without hesitation, she screamed straight at their unwavering faces, looking them straight in their frozen eyes. "You don't own me, you don't know me, you don't even appreciate me!" Unclipping her hoop earrings and tossing them at her mother's feet, she continued her tirade. "If this is what it means to be a Northwest, a crook, or a… a monster, then I don't want to be a part of this! Not now, not ever!"

She fell to her knees once more, trying her best to hold back the tears that came bursting forth once more and wiping them away with her sleeve. She rose up, defiant. "I just want you out of my life!"

" _IS THAT SO, KID?_ "

The eerie voice was brought upon a sudden wind that drove itself violently through the household, chilling her to the bone. She turned around to the direction where it came from, calling out into the emptiness that pervaded the room. "Who's there?"

Another flurry of wind blasted through the halls, forcing Pacifica to brace herself against it as she stood her ground. As the torrent died down, a dazzling portal split open before her, casting intense, crepuscular rays in its wake and momentarily blinding the girl. The gateway swiftly fizzled out with a pop, leaving only the faint trace of a golden gleam through Pacifica's half-lidded sight. Rubbing her eyes, Pacifica lifted her head and squinted up at the source of the glow.

" _A FRIEND, THAT'S WHO!_ "

The girl yelped and scrambled backwards, pointing a finger at the being before her. "Who… Who are you?" she exclaimed with a twinge of fear in her voice, backing up against the rooted legs of her father behind her. There was no place for her to run, no place for her to escape from this odd-looking creature floating in front of her.

A chuckle escaped the intruder's non-existent mouth, its lone eye staring straight through Pacifica's soul. Doffing its cap, it curtsied.

" _THE NAME'S BILL CIPHER, BUT YOU CAN CALL ME BILL._ " Placing its hat back upon its pointed head, the anomaly pointed right back at Pacifica. " _WANT TO MAKE A DEAL?_ "


	4. Chapter 4 - The Deal

_Pacifica was afraid._

Words escaped her grasp, still holding onto the belief that this was all just a dream, no matter how lucid or real it seemed. The demon before her was a geometrically perfect being, a triangle with the air of a crass, upper-class gentleman, complete with a perfectly black hat and a cane to carry in its small hands.

The creature, or Bill, as he named himself, did not appear to be put off by the girl's slack-jawed response. Floating down to face level with her, it peered over at her with its lone eye. " _WHAT'S WRONG, YELLOW? CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?_ " Snapping its fingers, a black cat emerged forth from a black puddle that seeped out of the floor tiles, the feline baring its fangs at Pacifica and exposing a thick, human-like tongue with a hiss.

Pacifica's mouth felt dry and dusty, the socialite attempting to protest only for guttural sounds to jumble out of her mouth. She had no tongue. The onset of raw terror on her face brought out a cloying, false laugh from Bill. " _HAHAHA, WELCOME TO THE DREAMSCAPE, KID! IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, EVEN IF THE CIRCUMSTANCES COULD BE BETTER!_ " Snapping its fingers twice, the cat vanished back into the ground, and with it, the girl's tongue was returned to its rightful place. " _THERE'S NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF, AS YOU WILL FIND THAT I AM AN EXCELLENT HOST!_ "

Clicking her tongue to make sure it was there, Pacifica leered at monocular construct, trying her best not to freak out and stay calm. Each word that came out had little to no reassurance in them, showing a rare meekness from Pacifica. "Excuse me, Mister… Cipher, if that even is your real name, I don't appreciate being toyed around with, so I suggest you watch it or else… or else I'll…" Her voice trailed off, the girl shrinking away from the demon out of embarrassment.

" _OR ELSE YOU WILL WHAT? YOU'LL WRITE ME A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER?_ " Bill mocked before pulling in close to the girl, hovering a mere arm's length away from her. " _TRUST ME, THAT KIND OF TALK WILL GET YOU NOWHERE IN LIFE, KID. JUST ASK THE GUYS DOWN IN MONTE RIO WHEN THEY GET TOGETHER EVERY YEAR!_ "

Biting into her lower lip, Pacifica found her patience wearing thin, having to juggle between recovering from her earlier fear and a babbling triangle that's spewing nonsense at her."Fine, FINE! Just… shut up and tell me who you actually are and what you are doing here!" She stamped her foot down and glowered at Bill. "Please."

Bill laughed and veered back, twirling its cane. " _IF YOU INSIST! YOU SEE, YELLOW, I'M JUST A HUMBLE GRANTER OF WISHES, A BROKER OF BARGAINS!_ " Pointing back to her frozen parents with the top of its walking stick, it rambled on. " _YOU BLACKED OUT AND WOKE UP IN THE DREAMSCAPE FROM THE EMOTIONAL TRAUMA THAT YOUR CARETAKERS INFLICTED ON YOU! AND WHEN YOU WERE BUSY RANTING AND RAVING, I COULDN'T HELP BUT OVERHEAR THE COMMOTION AND I DECIDED TO INTRODUCE MYSELF._ " Bill took off its cap, twisting its lone eye into a faux smile before placing it back. " _YOU SEE, I CAN HELP MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE, PROVIDED YOU CAN DO ME A FAVOR!_ "

Pacifica's features lightened up upon learning of Bill's motivations, but she kept her distance. "Right, like you can actually make my parents miraculously stop hating me or even help fix my friends' device, creep." Tossing her hair back snobbishly, she waved it off. "I'm not stupid, you know. I've read enough books and seen enough movies to know not to trust anyone or _anything_ that can grant a wish. I mean, this is all a dream, isn't it?"

The triangle narrowed its lone eye and put on a serious, condescending tone. " _LISTEN, I'M NOT ONE FOR DOING MONKEY'S PAWS, CATCH-22S, OR WHATEVER IT IS YOUR FLESHY, BIGENDERED SPECIES LIKES TO CALL IT_ _._ " Floating past Pacifica and stopping next to her stuck parents, it jabbed the bottom of its cane against her father's stomach. " _YOU MAY NOT TRUST ME, BUT YOUR PARENTS CERTAINLY DO, KID! AND I AM REAL AS IT COMES._ "

She recoiled, failing to understand why her parents would want anything to do with this thing. "And just what are you playing at?"

Snickering, Bill soared upwards and came to a rest on top of her father's head. " _LET'S SAY THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A WAY TO KEEP YOU IN LINE, YELLOW_ _._ " Pressing the end of its cane against Priscilla's immobile skull, the dream demon jabbered on. " _I VISITED YOUR BIOLOGICAL PRIMOGENITOR IN HER SLEEP JUST A LITTLE UNDER AN HOUR AGO. FUNNY, ALL SHE WANTED WAS A WAY TO KEEP YOU IN THE FOLD!_ " Its eye never left Pacifica's visage, leering down at her from its perch while the girl could only avoid the creature's gaze." _SO I OFFERED HER A NICE TIDBIT INFORMATION THAT MIGHT JUMPSTART THEM IN EXCHANGE FOR HITCHING A LITTLE RIDE IN THE MEANTIME. THE LADY HERE ALSO ASKED ME TO STRIP AWAY THEIR FEARS SO THEY COULD CONFRONT YOU AS HONESTLY AS THEY COULD!_ " Bill clicked its nonexistent tongue." _AND SO I DID._ "

Pacifica's jaw quivered in disgust, balling up her fists from the futility of the situation. She tried her best to not let a tear escape, holding in her watering eyes. "Does that mean… Does that mean that they really do hate me?" She felt like crying and curling up into herself, but there was something Bill said about all of this that said otherwise, something that kept her feet firmly on the floor and stalwart.

" _BEATS ME, KID! I'M A MESSENGER, NOT A THERAPIST!_ " it answered with a laugh. " _I MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN CARRIED AWAY AND OVERSTEPPED SOME BOUNDARIES, BUT THAT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR ME. SO THERE'S A SILVER LINING IN THERE! SOMEWHERE._ "

She turned her back away from the demon and the scowling faces of her parents. "Can you please just… leave me alone, then?" Her voice quivered slightly, still defiant. "I don't even know what you want from me, creep!"

Launching itself off from her father's head, the creature hovered around Pacifica and came to a stop, face-to-face. " _LOOK, KID. I HEARD YOUR PLEAS EARLIER AND YOU WANTED A WISH! OF COURSE, YOU COULD SIMPLY ASK TO BE FREE OF MY PRESENCE, BUT THAT WON'T SAVE YOU FROM THE HARSH REALITY OF YOUR EXISTENCE UNDERNEATH A PAIR OF PARENTAL FIGURES WITH NO INHIBITIONS FOR ABUSE!_ "

Bill's words made her take pause.

 _Pacifica knew that she was in a dream, but she never considered the aftermath of waking up. What if her parents were still enraged, or as Bill hinted as, being uninhibited? It made her simmer at the thought that her parents, no matter how strict or prude they might have been, were turned vicious by this. Then again, was it not by their own hand that they asked for their current condition? All of this was just conjecture explained to her by some stupid triangle thing-_

" _STUPID TRIANGLE THING OR NOT, YOU'RE IN THE DREAMSCAPE, KID!_ " Bill interrupted gleefully, almost pressing its eye against Pacifica's head. " _SO, WHAT WILL IT BE? FAFF ABOUT UNTIL THE COWS COME HOME, OR ARE YOU GOING TO TRY AND FIX THINGS?_ "

The girl recoiled and backed away, pursing her lips. "Stop calling me kid, my name is Pacifica Northwest of the Northwest family, and I demand to be treated as such!" Throwing her hand out at the geometrical construct, she poked him right in the center of its body. "And stay out of my head, jerk!"

" _WHATEVER YOU SAY, PACIFIC OCEAN!_ " Surprisingly, Bill backed away and gave some space to the girl. " _I'LL GIVE YOU SOME TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO! BUT REMEMBER, IF YOU WANT YOUR PARENTS TO RETURN TO NORMAL AND GET THAT DEVICE OF YOURS FIXED FOR THE PINE TREES, THEN YOU'LL HAVE NO BETTER CHANCE THAN NOW!_ "

She visibly blanched, taking a step back to catch her breath before addressing him. "And just _how_ did you know about the Prog-… Progno… argh, Prognosticator Apparatus!?" Becoming visibly flustered, she slammed her feet on the ground in anger.

Bill smiled. Or at least, she thought it did, judging by the way its eye curled up. " _THINK OF IT THIS WAY, PACIFIC OCEAN. I KNOW AND SEE EVERYTHING THAT GOES ON IN THE DREAMSCAPE AND INTO THE LIVING WORLD. YOU MAY NOT KNOW IT, BUT EACH TIME MY FORM IS ETCHED INTO YOUR REALITY, IT'S ANOTHER EYE AND EAR INTO THE WORLD I CAN SEE AND HEAR._ " It leaned on its cane languidly, examining a hand. " _EYE OF PROVIDENCE, LOOK IT UP!_ "

Tucking in her chin and folding her arms, she sighed. "Fine, so what if you know about all this. Just what do you expect in return if I, hypothetically, made the deal?" Her voice grew cold and distant, each word being carefully chosen. "I honestly can't expect you to be doing this entirely out of your free will."

Bill hummed, closing its eye as it twirled the cane around from hand to hand. " _I LIKE YOUR STYLE, PACIFIC OCEAN! YOU GOT ENOUGH MOXY TO MAKE IT BIG ONE DAY._ " Straightening up, it opened its eye and fixed the bowtie laying upon its center. " _WHAT I WANT IS A VERY, VERY SIMPLE FAVOR, SO LET ME SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU AS SIMPLY AS I CAN._ " Standing its cane, Bill landed on the floor an arm's length away from her. " _YOUR BOY FRIEND HAS SOMETHING I NEED THAT WAS TAKEN FROM ME_ _._ "

Pacifica grimaced and stammered, trying her best to correct Bill's implication in lieu of the favor. "Well, uh, me and Dipper aren't, well, exactly… He's, well, not my boyfriend." She blushed, annoyed at herself that those feelings were cropping up at a time like this.

A silence followed. The demon peered at the girl with its lone eye, not sure if she was clueless or just stupid. " _HERE, LET ME SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU._ " It lifted up a hand, a blue flame emerging from a fingertip as it drew out a crude image of Dipper. " _AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, HE IS WHAT YOU HUMANS WOULD REFER TO AS A BOY._ " Following this, it drew up a shoddy version of Pacifica that seemed to be made up of more triangles than any other shapes, all in an instant. The two drawings were holding hands, or at least, they were overlapping. " _AND THAT YOU ARE FRIENDS. HENCE, THE CONJUGATION BOY AND FRIEND. HE IS A BOY, AND YOU ARE A FRIEND._ " Clapping its hands, the drawings vanished. " _I KNOW YOU HUMANS CAN BE DAFT, BUT MUST I SPELL EVERYTHING OUT FOR YOUR UNENLIGHTENED SPECIES?_ "

Pacifica breathed an inward sigh of relief. The creature wasn't actually insinuating the two were an item, it was just an odd turn of phrase. Rubbing her head, she closed her eyes and shuddered. "I understand, but…" she took pause, looking back up at the unwavering eye hovering above. "But why exactly are you after Dipper?"

" _BECAUSE YOUR FRIEND MADE A DEAL WITH ME, PACIFIC OCEAN, AND HE BROKE IT._ " Bill's voice was strained and coarse, removed from any and all joviality. " _WE HAD A BARGAIN, HE GOT HIS END OF THE DEAL AND I DID NOT. YOU SEE, WHEN WE MADE THE PACT, I WANTED TO GET MY HANDS ON THAT JOURNAL OF HIS IN EXCHANGE FOR FIXING SOME GADGET OF HIS_ _._ " It pulled up uncomfortably close to Pacifica, its lone eye scowling right through her very soul. " _SOUNDS FAMILIAR, DOESN'T IT?_ "

 _The girl's heart sank. It felt like she was tossed into another hole she couldn't climb out of, she wasn't even safe inside her own mind. It was clear she had little say in the matter and that it all hinged on Bill's word alone. She knew that the almost nigh-omniscient being was her only way out of this mess, as much as she wanted to keep Dipper out of it. Otherwise, her parents might never turn back to normal and that everything would be worse than it was before. She was doing this to save her own hide, as selfish as it was after everything she has been through_ _._

Pacifica lifted her gaze and stared back at Bill."It does." She took a step forward and jabbed a finger against its bowtie, adamant. "But how exactly do I know you're not going to pull a fast one on me?"

Bill removed its cap and bowed, placing the hat on the top of its cane. " _THE THING ABOUT MY EXISTENCE IS THAT I NEED TO, FOR LACK OF A BETTER PHRASE IN YOUR POOR EXCUSE OF A SPOKEN LANGUAGE, CATCH A RIDE IN ORDER TO GET ANYTHING DONE. I'VE BEEN BURNED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE AND THUS, I NEED TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS!_ " Upon seeing Pacifica's face scrunch up into a disdainful scowl, it quickly backtracked. " _NO, I'M NOT GOING TO POSSESS YOU. TRUST ME, I COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT WITH YOUR FRIEND AND HONESTLY, IT'S OLD HAT ANYHOW! SO, TO INCENTIVIZE YOU, I'M GOING TO RETURN YOUR PARENTS TO NORMAL AS THE FIRST HALF OF MY DEAL._ " With a clap of hands, a blue flame covered Pacifica's frozen parents before fading away, nothing having changed outside of their expressions, which look to have fallen asleep.

With some restraint, the girl circled around her parents, never once taking an eye off of the mischievous demon mimicking her every move. "And what about the other half?" she asked, her suspicions growing by the second.

" _EASY._ " Bill came to a stop and flicked the shaft of the cane, tossing the hat back onto the top of its pointed head. " _I'LL BE THE GUIDE IN YOUR MIND, ANOTHER VOICE OF THE NIGHT! ONCE YOU HAVE RETRIEVED PINE TREE'S JOURNAL, I'LL TAKE IT FROM THERE._ " Even with the gravitas of the situation bearing down on Pacifica, it doesn't seemed to have dampened Bill's mood any. " _AFTER WHICH, EVERYTHING WILL RETURN TO NORMAL AND I'LL JUST BE ANOTHER MEMORY IN YOUR VAPID, SHORT-LIVED DREAMSCAPE. PROMISE!_ "

She fumed on the inside, thinking over its spiteful words and trying to see if there was a catch or some pitfall waiting for her. If Bill was who it said it was, then there shouldn't be any reason to question otherwise, but there was no arguing that he had orchestrated these series of events somehow. "I feel like I haven't gotten much to say in all this," she spoke plainly, looking down at her feet as passion took over. "I thought this was just going to be another boring night of being grounded, only for my friends to show up, bring me up, and then only to be flung back down again because of you!" She pushed past her parents and stomped towards Bill, who remained levitating in place, amused. "You think I'm stupid, don't you? Someone who was kept in line by a bell and by shame, unable to think for herself since she's just some link in the chain?!"

" _MAYBE-_ "

Pacifica pulled on the bowtie, yanking Bill down to her level as she glared with unbent ferocity. "I know you set this up on purpose, that you think I'm some pawn in some sick game of chess of yours! I don't know what it is you exactly want with Dipper or what your beef with him is, but if you so much as harm a hair on him or Mabel, I will personally **EVISCERATE** you!"

As she let go, Bill could only look at her with a blank expression. The demon has seen this attitude before, but it was no consequence to Bill. They all ended up bowing to its will in the end. It made it more fun that way. " _TOUGH TALK FOR A TYKE, BUT I LIKE YOUR STYLE!_ " Laughing, it lowered itself and stood on the ground, facing her. _"SO, WE HAVE A DEAL?_ " It rubbed its hands together, the right hand glowing with a blue, spectral flame as the creature stretched it out for a shake of hands.

The girl didn't even bother to look at Bill's hand. It was inevitable that it would come to this point, because as much as she kicked, screamed, or fought, there was no escaping this. Keeping her elbow firmly planted at her side, she shook its hand. "Deal."

" _YOU WON'T REGRET IT, KID!_ " Bill echoed as blue wisps of flame bound the pact. But as soon as she opened her mouth to reply, a blinding flash of white light consumed her vision, the dream world fading into the void in an instant.

* * *

Pacifica suddenly snapped awake as she looked around her with fright, clutching onto the hem of her shirt for support. She was on the floor, alert and in full control of herself. Her parents were on the floor, piled on top of one another and thankfully, snoozing peacefully. Scrambling herself against the wall, she caught her breath and pinched her cheek to make sure she was awake, a sharp, pointed pain allaying her fears.

Swiftly straightening out her blonde hair, she pushed herself up the wall to a stand, taking a cautious step forward to make sure everything was in working condition. The pitter-patter of rushing footsteps growing closer made her heart jump and mind race, but as soon as Dipper and Mabel rounded the corner, relief washed over her.

"What happened here?!" Mabel exclaimed as she ran over to Pacifica, who quickly shushed her with a raised hand.

Dipper followed right behind his sister's trail as he kept his voice to a worried murmur. "We heard a commotion over here and we thought you were in… trouble?" Both of the twins looked at her unconscious parents on the floor, taken aback.

Pacifica didn't reply at first, a grin forming on her lips, followed by a bout of laughter. It felt like she was going crazy, but she managed to compose herself again as she addressed the bemused faces gawking at her. "My parents were arguing, so I went to check it out and then they… fell asleep." She shrugged, stepping over her father and pointing down the stairs. "I forgot to tell you guys, but they're, uh, narcoleptics. So let's try and get to the kitchen before they wake up, okay?"

She looked over their faces once more, still feeling queasy to her stomach. Mabel seemed to have bought the excuse, but Dipper did not look convinced in the slightest. "If ya say so!" Mabel responded in earnest, looking over at Dipper for his approval.

"Sure, I guess?" He knew she was lying. Pacifica never mentioned this to him before and she was acting odd, perturbed even. As he looked into the girl's eyes, there was a sudden chill that shook him to the core of his soul, a feeling he only felt once before. It made his blood curdle and the hairs on his neck stand up on end, the boy grabbing onto the railing looking over the foyer for support.

 _It couldn't be._

Pacifica looked at him with a quizzical look, trying to put on the right smile for him. "You okay, Dipper?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He straightened his back and went down the stairs first, keeping his eyes firmly ahead. "Just… a little hungry, that's all."

Mabel huffed and quickly hooked the both of them by the elbows, dragging them down the stairs with gusto. "C'mon, enough standing around, yeesh! We're all hungry and I don't want to be standing around and getting in trouble with Mister and Miss Stuffypants, so let's get a move on already!"

 _As Pacifica looked over Mabel's head and towards Dipper, the boy veered away from her gaze and looked off to the side. She sighed and wondered what got into him, even as Mabel began listing out various snack recipes and party platter ideas that fell on deaf ears. It felt almost as if everything that happened to her was just a dream, just some awful hallucination that never happened. Yes, maybe it was all just a dream!_

" _IT CERTAINLY WAS ONE HECK OF A DREAM, KID!_ " A voice echoed through Pacifica's mind, chilling her to the bone.

 _Oh no._


	5. Chapter 5 - Locked Inside

" _LOOK AT THEM, KID. LOOK AT THOSE SWEET, LITTLE, INNOCENT TWINS. YOU DON'T WANT THEM TO GET HURT, DO YOU?_ "

Pacifica lifted her eyes at Dipper and Mabel, the twins being perched upon the kitchen counters. Mabel was preoccupied with digging into a triple-stacked sandwich, while Dipper sluggishly munched some chocolates. The odd glances he was giving her was disconcerting, as if he knew.

" _HE KNOWS. BUT NOT ENOUGH TO START ASKING QUESTIONS. THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE TO DO AS I SAY, OR ELSE YOU'LL LOSE YOUR MIND!_ " A sinister, high-pitched laugh echoed through the girl's mind. " _JUST LIKE TROTSKY!"_

" _Ugh, just what are you doing inside of my mind?_ " It felt like Pacifica's thoughts always fell on deaf ears from the moment he made his presence known. A terror gripped her heart, one that tugged at her lungs and choked her of air. She was both herself and not at the same time, a shadow. The kitchen provided little space to take her mind off the looming dread, worsening every time she looked at her friends. " _I want you out!_ " she shrieked into her mind, smooshing the croissant in her hand.

" _YOU AGREED TO THE DEAL, YOU BOUGHT IN! TRUST ME, IT'LL BE OVER ONCE YOU AND PINE TREE ARE ALONE,_ " Bill mocked. " _I'LL LEAVE YOU ALONE ONCE I'M THROUGH AND EVERYTHING WILL GO BACK TO NORMAL. YOU HEARD ME RIGHT, NORMAL!_ "

"Pacifica?"

Dipper brought her to, suddenly snapping herself awake and smiling from ear-to-ear. "What, no, no, I wasn't falling asleep, I swear!"

He could only raise an eyebrow in response, Mabel laughing uncomfortably in response as she took the reins. "I know it's late, but we got an adventure to get to, you know?" The girl shrugged and smiled. "I'm not sure what's gotten into the two of you, but is there something on your mind?"

Pacifica tugged on the neckline of her shirt, gulping. "Well, I, might have-"

Her body and mouth froze in place, her throat clamped shut as Bill boomed across her mind. " _YOU MUST NOT SPEAK OF ME. YOU ARE TO MAINTAIN MY ANONMITY AT ALL COSTS OR ELSE OUR DEAL IS VOID! GOT IT?_ "

"Been… spooked a little by my parents? They seemed, uh, pretty mad," she finished, trying her best to play it cool. "Thankfully, the narcolepsy kicked in."

The twins looked cautiously at one another, noticing how unusually stiff Pacifica was being with her choice of words. "Hey, just a question," interjected Dipper, "did something happen that you're not telling us? You don't have to hide anything with us, we're your friends!"

The girl could feel Bill's gaze drilling into her consciousness, no secret or memory obscured from its watchful eye. "I'm just a little shaken up from my parents confronting me past my curfew, that's all. They usually forget about what happened before one of their sleeping fits and they'll be out for a few hours!" A white lie.

Dipper pressed the question, jumping off of the granite countertop to talk with her at eye level. "Do they know about us, uh, staying here?" He thumbed himself and Mabel, who was scarfing down the last pieces of her sandwich.

"Nope, zilch, nada!" Pacifica felt some of her normality returning, no longer feeling Bill's hovering presence bearing down on her. "You got to trust me on this one, okay? Especially since I was the one who had to grow up with them."

Dipper sighed and accepted her explanation, albeit with some reluctance. There was something still disconcerting about her presence, an aura that tapped into his very psyche and didn't let go, something that both repelled and attracted his curiosity. Mustering up his best smile, he nodded. "I guess we're all being a little weird and tired tonight. How about you, Mabel?"

On command, his sister hopped down and pumped a fist, clueless of the previous somber mood between the two. "Never felt better! We got a mystery to crack, but we're going to need a lot more sugar, lots of it!" Pressing her hands together, the bubbly girl turned to Pacifica. "Where's all the sugary junk food at? You got to have a hidden cache somewhere!"

As Pacifica was about to respond, Bill murmured throughout her psyche, consuming every thought and drowning them out with its own. " _THIS GIRL WILL BE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE. TO PROVE YOUR FAITH IN OUR DEAL, I WANT YOU TO TAKE HER SOMEWHERE ISOLATED, FAR AWAY FROM THE GIRL'S SIBLING TO MAKE SURE SHE DOES NOT INTERFERE IN MY PLANS."_ It drew out a long pause. " _OR ELSE._ "

"Uh," Pacific uttered, trying not to trip over her own words, "There's some… upstairs in another pantry, my personal stash." Another lie. It made her feel awful, but she already knew how to keep Mabel pacified. "I can show you where it's hidden."

 _Wait, pacified? What was she even thinking about with pacification? Pacifica was all she really needed to bet. She knew that Bill was watching her every move and thought. And likewise, it knew that she knew that it knew. Ugh, this was getting way too complicated for her to keep a track of._

Mabel lit up like a Christmas tree, radiating pure positivity. "Really? Really! C'mon, Dipper, let's go! Ten-hut, off we go!" She jumped onto the floor and hopped about, ecstatically waving him over.

Their host realized that she might have made a mistake by thinking that Mabel wouldn't want her brother to tag along.

"Actually, you and Pacifica can go on ahead, I'm going to stay here and clean up this mess."

Both Mabel and Pacifica shot a look at the other, still processing what Dipper just said. Mabel's shock and Pacifica's respite were almost palpable.

"But I thought you loved candy, Dipper!" His sister looked somewhat distraught at this development, folding her arms.

"Yeah, but not tonight, I want to be able to read through anything we find without jittering the entire time." Dipper made sure not to make eye contact with Pacifica as he shied away from her. "We can meet up later in the study, okay?"

Pacifica remained silent, her palms sweaty from nervousness. She didn't know what worried her more: the fact that Dipper could tag along, or the fact that she was going to have to somehow cordon off Mabel. Both options were equally unappealing.

A moment passed, Mabel staring her brother in the eye to see if he would crack under the pressure.

No luck.

Mabel frowned in disapproval before acquiescing. "Fine, but don't expect me to bring you back any!" She stuck out her tongue before suddenly yanking Pacifica by the arm and leading her out the doorway. "Show me where the treasure is hidden, O' Honorable Admiral!"

Pacifica could only glance back at Dipper, whose own gaze was pointed down at the floor. And without a further word, the girls were gone.

* * *

Dipper closed his eyes and leaned against the counter, resting his forehead against the cool, rounded surface. Just moments ago, he was trying to quiet those pangs of love in his heart, and now he was trying to hide the terror laying in his mind. It happened on such short notice that he felt dissonant, distant.

 _But what was it that bothered him specifically? Her parents laying on the floor, her hesitation, that awful aura he felt before, was it just him or was Pacifica playing dumb and covering her tracks? Mabel didn't seem to mind, but she trusted everyone, even if that person could end the world in the blink of an eye. Wait, eye, blink of an eye, the dread from earlier. He tried to pay the gut instinct no mind, but there was no ignoring the possibility._

His mind started racing, each conclusion seeming more ludicrous than the last. Reaching into his vest, he pulled out the journal and began sifting through the pages before landing on the one lead he had.

"Bill Cipher, yadda yadda, can't be trusted, already knew that much," he mumbled before flicking the page over, finding nothing new as expected. "Just one last thing to check."

Reaching into his vest, he procured a small blacklight tube, one that he always kept on hand for any secrets that may lie in the tattered pages. Clicking it on, he held it above the page and illuminated it, a large, fluorescent paragraph of roughly-etched text being revealed before him.

"Once possessed, always touched," Dipper spoke aloud as he crouched down underneath the shadow of the counter. "This is the mantra of the dream demon. Once one has become aware of their presence, they will always be cognizant of the beast when it enters reality in whatever form it… so chooses." His fingers trembled and the boy continued. "Any promises it makes is a farce, a con to trick others into fulfilling its own desires. It only requires the consent of the victim to enter their mind, after which, they are at the mercy and the whims of the beast."

He could hardly hold onto his book, his deepest fears being confirmed as he pressed on. "While one can easily avoid summoning Bill, the demon can still appear to others if they have something that might be of use to it. Exorcism requires it to know its host's limitations before being chased out, be it through possession or inhabitation. To check if someone is suspected of harboring the demon, shine a light into their eyes – if their pupils fail to dilate, then its presence is confirmed... Addendum: Or they might have a medical condition."

Turning the black light off and closing the book carefully, Dipper packed them back under his vest, wide-eyed with fright as he stood up, almost banging his head against the counter in his frenzied state.

" _Mabel and Pacifica are in trouble!_ " he gasped, darting out of the kitchen without a moment to spare.

* * *

The lights in the manor have since dimmed, no longer having their usual, bright shine to illuminate the maze of hallways and rooms that seem to stretch on forever. Brooding and ominous, it felt impersonal and alien to Mabel, a far cry from the modest upbringing she was raised in.

"Are you sure this is where the pantry is at, Pacifica?" Mabel quipped with a shred of anxiety in her voice. "It sure is far away from the kitchen and all."

Her friend didn't respond at first, the girl's mind locked in a battle of wits with herself. Gathering herself up, she allayed the girl's fears with a wave of her hand. "It's at the end of the hall, we're almost there."

A laugh reverberated through Pacifica's skull. " _ALMOST THERE, KID! SO, WHAT'S THE PLAN GOING TO BE TO GET RID OF IRON-JAW HERE? PERSONALLY, I'M A FAN OF DRAWING IT OUT, BUT WE'RE PRESSED FOR TIME, SO ALL I CAN SAY IS: MAKE IT QUICK!"_

Pacifica raised her head, responding in kind to the demon in her mind. " _I'm not going to harm her, you sicko. I'm just going to lock her in the room, that's it!_ "

Bill briefly flashed over the girl's vision. " _HONESTLY, THAT'S ONE OF THE WORST IDEAS I'VE EVER HEARD, I'VE HAD MEN KILL FOR LESS THAN WHAT I'VE GOT GOING FOR YOU!_ " A clap of hands followed in applause. " _GET CREATIVE, KID! STRANGLE HER, KNOCK HER OUT, HECK, CHLOROFORM CAN DO THE JOB IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY!_ "

 _Pacifica came to a stop and grinded down on her teeth, balling up her fists. There was a way out of this, there had to be. Once Mabel was out of harm's way, it would just be her and Dipper, Bill can take care of everything from there, and then everything would go back to normal._

 _Wait, that's it!_

Mabel tugged on Pacifica's sleeve apprehensively. "Pacifica?"

Her features instantly relaxed, fury and stress giving way to neutrality. She could only laugh at it all, unable to restrain herself as she chuckled at how everything was turning out.

"Pacifica…?"

"Mabel."

"Um, yes?"

Pacifica crossed her arms and composed herself. This was it. "The reason why I dragged you all the way here was to, uh, ask you a favor."

"Huh?" Mabel winced, raising an eyebrow. "I thought we were going to go grub out on some expensive candy?"

She smiled awkwardly, one side of her lip turned up further than the other. "To be completely honest with you, I lied about there being a secret stash of candy, but hear me out first!" Mabel's subsequent look of disappointment stung her a bit, but she pressed on. "Are you good at keeping secrets?"

The twin grimly nodded, zipping her lips tight with a finger before unzipping it again. "I am the grand archmaster of the secrets, you can count on me!" She giggled, having lost that forlorn expression in an instant. "Mostly."

 _All Pacifica had to do now was say it. She knew that Mabel would understand where she was coming from, and more importantly, it would buy her time while also being truthful to herself, even if the consequences can never be undone._

Gathering up her courage, she placed both of her hands onto Mabel's shoulders, trying to maintain eye contact without looking away. "Mabel," she spoke plainly, wavering slightly, "I… uhm, like Dipper. Like, like-like."

Mabel's mind entered a tizzy, a muddled kaleidoscope of astonishment and confusion. She tried to speak up, but it was just an incomprehensible babble of words, each syllable making Pacifica more and more uncomfortable. Coming back to her senses, she nearly shrieked in joy. "I knew it, I knew it! You two are **TOTALLY** crushing hard on each other!"

"Mabel-"

" **CRUSHING. HARD!** "

Pacifica signaled for her to lower her voice, nodding. "I… know, it was hard enough for me to say it, but I want to confess to him in private." Her cheeks were a bright pink, not of shame, but of bashfulness. "That's why I wanted to bring you out here, so I can do this on my own."

"I'm not following?" Mabel tilted her head to the side and pressed a palm against her cheek, trying to think of something to say. "I don't see why I can't be there! Especially considering that I am the _de facto_ best matchmaker in all of Gravity Falls!" She ended this by tossing her arms out in an arc, that goofy smile of hers front and center.

Pacifica sighed. "It's not that, it's just that I might lose my nerve with someone else watching. Trust me, it won't take long." She let go of Mabel and backed away, looking over her shoulder. "Can you just give us ten, maybe fifteen minutes alone? Please?"

A pause followed, the sweater-clad twin thinking it over, or at least, pretending to. "No problem," she joyfully exclaimed, "but only because you said the magic word!" Sticking out her tongue in jest, Mabel bounced in place. "Oh gosh, Dipper has a girlfriend, Pacifica has a boyfriend, Dipper has a girlfriend- mmph!"

Shushing her with a hand, Pacifica's face was now a deep, beet red. "Do you want someone to overhear us, idiot?!" Calming herself down, she let go of Mabel. "I'm sorry that I called you an idiot, but seriously, keep it down or someone might overhear us!"

"Oops, sorry!" Mabel whispered, looking about ready to explode. "But it's hard not to be **ECSTATIC** , um, ecstatic about these developments!" She squished her cheeks together, unable to keep her voice down below a screech. " _Romantic developments!_ "

"Right, right," the socialite muttered under her breath as she began to back away. "Can you just… stay there? Right there, without moving or making a fuss? Right there."

She grinned. "Well, I can't totally _guarantee_ that I'll stay here or that I _totally_ won't creep on you guys, but you can trust me to stay out of it!"

As much of a non-answer as that was, Pacifica needed to get that journal at any cost. Nodding, she focused her mind and turned around, partially relieved and anxious at the same time. "Thanks, Mabel."

"No, no, thank _you_!" Mabel shouted back, almost squealing like a certain pet pig.

Pacifica smacked her head and walked away, departing with a lazy wave of a hand. "Yeah, yeah, see you soon," she mumbled, waiting until she was out of earshot to finish her thought. "Hopefully." She could hear Bill's stilted laugh echo through her consciousness, as if mocking her to say otherwise – but she could not retaliate. For now, she needed to find Dipper and set everything straight.

* * *

Dipper was worried out of his wits, exhausted from running about the seemingly never-ending manor in search of his sister and Pacifica. Leaning down against the wall to catch his breath, he pinched his brow in frustration.

"Look, maybe they're okay, maybe you're just overreacting and that everything is getting blown out of proportion," he reassured himself, trying to quell that inescapable fear that was welling up in his stomach. "Maybe it's just me, or you, or… Wait, why am I talking in the second person again?" He smacked his forehead. "What am I even saying?"

Just as he pushed himself back onto his feet, he heard a scream from the far end of the hall, one that was impossible to mistake for any other.

" _Mabel!_ "

Scrambling forward, he rushed down the hall as fast as his feet could carry him, acting on instinct rather than logic. But as he turned the corner, he smashed headfirst into an unseen figure, sending him sprawling onto the floor. Dazed, he rubbed the side of his head and sat up, taking a glimpse at who ran into him. "Pacifica?"

Groaning in response, the girl was still sprawled out on the ground, having been completely bowled over by Dipper. She rubbed her eyes and stayed put, trying to think her next action through. She was going to have to handle this as carefully as she could-

Dipper tossed himself on top of her and trapped the girl beneath him, a steely determination on his face. Too surprised to even fight back, her voice choked up in confusion. Reaching under his vest, he pulled out his flashlight and turned it on with a flick of his thumb. "Sorry about this, Pacifica," he spoke plainly, betraying no emotion as a white void encapsulated her vision, "but this is for your own good!"

She did not flinch out of pain or retaliation, too shocked to even protest and before she knew it, the light clicked off. As her vision came to again, she was greeted by Dipper's horrified expression, his lower lip quivering out of terror. The boy scrambled off of her and backpedaled on his hands, crawling away. "No, no, it can't be, it can't be," he stammered as he held a hand up to her and trying to get her to stay back.

Pacifica did not know how to respond, unsure of what just happened. She looked down at herself and then up at Dipper, realizing that the boy just flung his body on her. _And strangely enough, she… enjoyed it_. _Even if he did try to blind her for no reason._ Rising to her feet, Pacifica stood in place before finally addressing him.

" _LONG TIME NO SEE, PINE TREE!_ "

Pacifica desperately tried to correct herself, but she couldn't budge her lips.

She was no longer in control.


End file.
